Monroe started in place of Wallace who apparently isn't going to play this game so he can get his rest. We had Stuckey-Rip-Prince-JMax-Monroe on the floor. We jumped on Minny early and built a 17-4 lead. JMax-Monroe pairing looked really good. Then CV had to come in early for Maxiell with about 4.5 minutes left in the 1st due to 2 quick fouls by Maxiell. The score was 17-9 then.

Bynum comes in with 1:37 left with 21-13 lead for the Pistons. We had Bynum-Gordon-Rip-CV-Monroe to finish the first quarter, allowed a mini-run by the Wolves and finished the 1st quarter 23-19. Still up by 4 points.

We started the 2nd quarter with Bynum-Gordon-TMac-CV-Wilcox and Minnesota quickly took the lead. Although Bynum-Gordon and Wilcox looked pretty good in fast breaks. They consistently beat Minny to the basket. I think we had 11 fast break points in the 1st half. A category for which apparently we are at the bottom of the league with 12.9 pts a game.

With 7:02 left in the 2nd, Max-Monroe-Stuck came in for CV-Wilcox-Bynum. The score was 32-31 in our favor then. In about 2 minutes Maxiell got into foul trouble and CV came back in. We were still doing ok at that point,

And then, to finish the 1st half, Kuester inexplicably goes small against one of the best rebounding teams in the league with Love and Darko up front. We had Stuckey-Gordon-Rip-Prince-Monroe to finish the 1st half. Minnesota grabbed 6 offensive rebounds in about 3 minutes and we finished the half down 4 points: 44-48.

Kevin Love has 15 pts and 12 boards IN THE FIRST HALF!

Some observations:

McGrady is our BEST guard to play the pick-n-roll game. He may be our ONLY guard that can execute a pick-n-roll. He fed the ball to Monroe twice who finished and to Wilcox twice who missed.

Gordon looked decent even on the defensive end.

Stuckey's lack of hustle defensively is painful to watch. He doesn't even bother to put a hand up to contest a shot and his defensive rotations are horrid. Somebody needs to smack some sense into that kid.

Monroe's looking better and better each game. He made his share of rookie mistakes, but he's finishing better and defensively he's improving as well. He's also got a great sense of where the ball is. He grabbed the ball out of nowhere in various chaotic posessions.

Prince played great to start the game. When he came back in the 2nd quarter, he regressed to the 1:1 iso Prince which was quite terrible.

Bynum is still a non-factor.

CV-Wilcox are horrible together. They should never be in the game at the same time. The couldn't grab a board even if the ball fell in their hands.

There was a quick segment about Laimbeer's influence on Darko. Apparently Laimbeer was adamant in keeping Darko at Minnesota this summer. He visited Darko in Serbia to make sure he was "doing what he was supposed to". He said that he talked to Darko a lot and told him that this was his time and no more excuses. He said that Darko finally understood that he was the problem. He kept on telling Darko that he was a great player and it was up to him to show it to everybody. He apparently told Darko that the organization needed him to play 30+ minutes a game, but he had to deliver. He emphasized that Darko was a great defensive player but he also had to improve his offense. Essentially he kept teaching Darko and making him feel wanted. The results are quite good so far. If Darko keeps up his level of play, he should be a lock for most improved player.

Two things that never seem to change...Q will play the third quarter starters without substitution until 2 and change left in the period and either Monroe or Stuckey will get their shot blocked in a game. How many times will Stuckey go one on 3 hoping to get an and one

Rodney Stuckey is a joke. More crunch time blunders, getting totally and completely worked by Luke Ridnour in crunch time, the 2 on 1 turnover... and he's still hugging and groping every player on the other team at the end of the game.

I better not read any comments in this forum that the Pistons should have won this game even though they jumped to a 17-4 lead. The Wolves had a better point guard in Ridnour, a better big man in Love, a better journey man in Darko, a better swing man in Beasley, a better rookie in Nicolai..and better coaches in Rambis and Laimbeer and Theus.

The game was tight with the Wolves up one 86-85 with a little more than 7 mins left in the game. After playing Rip, Stuckey and Maxiel nearly 10 minutes in the third qtr, Q brings them back in about the six minute mark and the Pistons get outscored 11-2 over the next three minutes and pretty much the game was lost then.

Blame loss on coach and players getting out hustled in the end.

Ben Gordon only got off 4 shots and every time he passed an open man, the player either missed the shot or faked the shot dribbled it and then missed the shot anyway.

Villanueva was off all around and hit the three that brought them within one 86-85, but it was all downhill after that.

Monroe started and had 15 boards, but was blocked FIVE times at least three times by Darko who with his 7 blocks had more than the entire Piston team. Oh yeah not to be out blocked,....Stuckey had three of his shots blocked too.

Unfortunately, can't say we just got beat badly by the worst team in the league. Cause we may have just took that title away from Minny.

What a crock. For the first time this season, Monroe starts, but does not get the benefit of Ben Wallace coming off the bench.

Yes, we got off to a great start. And when JMAX got a couple of fouls, no problem, all we had to do was put Ben Wallace in for JMAX and the defense would have kept right on clicking. But no, we put in CV instead, and our defense goes to zero.

And just to ensure the loss, suddenly we get Bynum in the rotation instead of Daye. This non-sense stems from two things. One, after a thorough icing, Daye managed to nail a couple of threes in a game. Time for more icing. About the best thing about the last couple of games was the play of Daye for the Pistons. So he had to sit this one.

Sure Stuckey made some mistakes. But he was also seen at the line repeatedly, making free throws. And he made quite a few outside shots as well.

Wilcox had his best outing of the season for us - well, mostly in one sequence where he scored 7 straight points for us - running some pick and rolls with TMAC.

Rip had his shot spot on, from 3 land on in. Tay was non-existent. Heck, with Coach finding silly reasons not to even play Daye, why should Tay even worry about keeping his minutes.

Yes, Stuckey looks totally lackadaisical getting around picks. Under no circumstances should he play Mr. Cool when getting around a pick. Work - and hustle. The fans are watching.

Can't say much about Gordon - he played too much along side Bynum. What could there be to say?

JMAX is hitting his shots lately. A strong tendency to hit his first free throw - but also a stronger trend toward missing the 2nd. (Still an improvement from earlier in the season. I guess though he has to mentally think he is going up to the line for his first free throw each time. What ever he does to prepare for that first one - follow the same exact routine for the 2nd. This works for many players.

Utter non-sense to sit your best rebounder when you are facing the leagues best. Rest Ben some other time. Actually, strike that - just have him come off the bench and play less every game. He can actually help us get wins that way. If that is what Joe Dumars wants. Kind of doubting it after tonight.

Monroe made a mistake here and there, but for a rookie he is sure doing well. Strong post D. Making some shots. 15 boards. 15 boards against this team? Monroe can indeed rebound. Start him. And JMAX. Drop CV like a bad habit. And for sanity's sake - quit playing Bynum.

Just once tonight, but whenever TMAC rises and gets all net, it makes you hope.

Did I mention Summers is available as a defensive minded power forward. Oh, not just available - on this team already. CV, if anything, needs a lot of rest at this point. He ain't getting much done.

Thats about it. More reports on the absolute zoo Kuester is running after tomorro night's game. The only question I got about the madness I am seeing is how much of it is dictated by Joe Dumars.

Q went small against a team whose strength is upfront, Tayshaun Prince vs Kevin Love ........smh-while-LMAO-while-crying. Rodney Stuckey=Born Loser and when Charlie Lotto is bad, he's really, really, really, really BAD! Good stuff from Greg Monroe tonight! Next season him and JJ playing together are going to be fun to watch as we head to our 3rd straight lottery. So who should we draft, Kyrie Irving, Jared Sullinger or Terrance Jones?